Chemical Processing

The majority of the new biopharmaceuticals and those in development today are produced in complex mammalian cell cultures — typically involving tens of biochemical species and hundreds of biochemical reactions. These biologics such as therapeutic…

Leak detection at large chemical sites can be both difficult and expensive. At one Belgian plant, operators were making twice-daily inspection rounds using portable leak detectors — but new and stricter government regulations required continuous…

The majority of the new biopharmaceuticals and those in development today are produced in complex mammalian cell cultures — typically involving tens of biochemical species and hundreds of biochemical reactions. These biologics such as therapeutic…

Emerson appoints Scott Anderson as president for its Control Techniques business unit.

Emerson appoints Scott Anderson as president for its Control Techniques business unit. Anderson leads the business from its headquarters in the United Kingdom where it employs around 650 people, along with an additional 1,000 employees across 55 locations worldwide.
Scott brings 32 years of Emerson experience to Control Techniques. His most recent leadership positions were in Emerson Process Management, where he spent 14 years as president of Rosemount Flow business unit and two years as president responsible for establishing the Lifecycle Services organization for Emerson Process, Flow Measurement group. Prior to that, he worked within Emerson Industrial Automation for 17 years in sales and marketing positions.
For more information,…

Embrace a variety of strategies that can eliminate hazards from operations

Trevor Kletz was able to simplify the concept of inherent safety in such a way that everyone “gets it.” His mantra “What you don’t have can’t leak” is so clear and powerful that it has grabbed the attention of all stakeholders, including…

Looking back at his project I wondered how he ever could foul it up this badly — at least unintentionally. He’d hired an offshore engineering company half-a-world away to save money. He hadn’t carefully defined the material properties, basic engineering document and drawings (BEDD) or the materials of construction. He sought low-bids for the design instead of time-and-material ones. He never reviewed preliminary drawings with manufacturing. Wow, what a mess. Yet the firm I was working for agreed to pick up the pieces — to build the process — without process engineering hours!
Although these situations seldom work out well, there are ways to minimize the damage to your firm and your reputation. Let’s consider the contract…

The Hydraulic Institute (HI), working as part of the Extended Motor Product Label Initiative (EMPLI) consortium, is collaborating on “Designing a Program for Future Incentives for Energy Efficient Pumps and Pumping Systems,” a new data collection effort.

The Hydraulic Institute (HI), working as part of the Extended Motor Product Label Initiative (EMPLI) consortium, is collaborating on “Designing a Program for Future Incentives for Energy Efficient Pumps and Pumping Systems,” a new data collection effort. Data will support a new voluntary labeling initiative for pumps and extended pump products (defined as the pump, motor, drive and controls). The concept is to reflect the energy savings potential of the equipment as installed in motor and control system applications. The development of an “extended-product label” in combination with the data collected will help form the basis for easily implementable prescriptive rebate programs.
End-user participation in submitting pump and load…

Volkmann, Inc. expands its U.S. headquarters, located in Bristol, PA, to include a 750-square-foot dedicated test facility.

Volkmann, Inc. expands its U.S. headquarters in Bristol, PA to include a 750-square-foot dedicated test facility. The laboratory incorporates a range of the company’s VS Series of vacuum conveyors, including the 200, 250, 350 and 450 receiver models, as well as a variety of feed hoppers and the company’s RNT rip and tip hopper. Two 150 foot runs of 1 ½” and 2 ½” conveying lines are available to simulate real world applications in product transfer, and a 20 foot vertical lift can be added where necessary.
The VS series can simulate conveying conditions for powders, granules, particles, tablets and capsules for customers in the food, pharmaceutical, chemical and coatings industries. A PPCVS 170 unit, built specifically for the…

A new method produces amines that are impractical or even impossible to make via conventional approaches and that hold particular promise for pharmaceuticals, claim its developers at The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, Calif. The technique,…

Researchers in Australia have developed polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) membranes for reverse osmosis and nanofiltration that promise to simplify treatment of brackish and sea waters and, thus, save energy. The membranes obviate the need for the…

This Month’s Puzzler
We would like to increase the cooling water flow to a tower condenser (heat exchanger A in Figure 1) from 2,900 gpm to the exchanger nameplate rating of 4,500 gpm. A review of the files shows the heat exchangers and control…

New and cost-effective ways to ensure assets are performing and operational risks are minimized.

If you’ve heard it once you’ve heard it a thousand times -- you can’t manage what you can’t measure. And how can you measure something you can’t easily see? The goal of asset management and the tools of the trade (enterprise asset management software among them) is to enable total visibility – in real time – to all your information so you can run more efficiently and grow more profitable. In a world where human assets are fewer, adopting new approaches to intelligently match limited resources with critical priorities is paramount.
Add to that the fact that the ISO 55000 Asset Management standard published last year by the International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switz., sets realistic expectations for asset…

Many chemical makers must defuse a demographic time bomb as veteran engineers and operators approach retirement. Companies are pursuing a variety of strategies to bring replacements up to speed and ensure that a vast wealth of knowledge and…

Many chemical makers must defuse a demographic time bomb as veteran engineers and operators approach retirement. Companies are pursuing a variety of strategies to bring replacements up to speed and ensure that a vast wealth of knowledge and…

Administration calls for updating and simplifying various regulations and guidance documents

With little fanfare, on July 2, 2015, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the U.S. Trade Representative, and the Council on Environmental Quality issued a memorandum directing…

Administration calls for updating and simplifying various regulations and guidance documents

With little fanfare, on July 2, 2015, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the U.S. Trade Representative, and the Council on Environmental Quality issued a memorandum directing…

Intel Security Technologies will be included in Honeywell’s industrial cyber security solutions for process control.

Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) and Intel Security will collaborate to help bolster protection of critical industrial infrastructure and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Intel Security’s McAfee technologies will be integrated with Honeywell’s Industrial Cyber Security Solutions, providing Honeywell customers with enhanced security software to protect their control systems from malware and misuse.
Honeywell's Industrial Cyber Security Solutions group has a dedicated global team of industrial cyber security experts that provide products, services and technologies to help protect industrial automation and control systems against cyber threats. The collaboration between Intel Security and HPS will combine advances in cyber…

Organizations that take a “felt leadership” approach to process safety management are making strides in the ongoing quest to improve process safety.

The best laid plans are just that – plans. Unless you have someone championing the plans it’s nothing more than a useless exercise. This is true with process safety and unfortunately lives have been lost because of it. To truly improve process safety management (PSM), the responsibility falls to senior executives. It’s a trickle-down effect that at the very least will improve performance and at the utmost will save lives. DuPont calls this “felt leadership” and starts with leaders improving and influencing decision-making across the board.
Once upper management is on board, you can get to the root of accidents. While it’s easy to place blame on operators, you must look at the whole picture not just the last few brush strokes.

On December 1, 2014, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) announced that its “Most Wanted Safety Improvement” is to modernize U.S. process safety management (PSM) regulations. Specifically, the CSB notes implementation of key federal and state…

Embrace a variety of strategies that can eliminate hazards from operations

Trevor Kletz was able to simplify the concept of inherent safety in such a way that everyone “gets it.” His mantra “What you don’t have can’t leak” is so clear and powerful that it has grabbed the attention of all stakeholders, including…

Downloadable software from the DOE can help junior engineers as well as experts.

Recently I spoke at a Chemical Processing Energy Efficiency webinar about valuable software tools offered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). These tools can be extremely helpful to engineers attempting to improve their plant’s energy…

Downloadable software from the DOE can help junior engineers as well as experts.

Recently I spoke at a Chemical Processing Energy Efficiency webinar about valuable software tools offered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). These tools can be extremely helpful to engineers attempting to improve their plant’s energy…

Downloadable software from the DOE can help junior engineers as well as experts.

Recently I spoke at a Chemical Processing Energy Efficiency webinar about valuable software tools offered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). These tools can be extremely helpful to engineers attempting to improve their plant’s energy…

This Month’s Puzzler
We would like to increase the cooling water flow to a tower condenser (heat exchanger A in Figure 1) from 2,900 gpm to the exchanger nameplate rating of 4,500 gpm. A review of the files shows the heat exchangers and control…

Downloadable software from the DOE can help junior engineers as well as experts.

Recently I spoke at a Chemical Processing Energy Efficiency webinar about valuable software tools offered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). These tools can be extremely helpful to engineers attempting to improve their plant’s energy…

Simplify Your Energy Message

As process engineers, we deal with complex systems with many independent variables. However, to get operators to react, we need to give them information in a way that allows for maximum impact. Adding calculated efficiency management variables, or “Money Loss” calculators, will alert operators to energy waste.

“You can even extend Money Loss calculators to utility systems.”

Every furnace should be monitored. The basic information (oxygen, draft, fuel usage, and feed rate) simply doesn’t motivate operators to make improvements. Two calculated variables, furnace efficiency and BTU per unit of feed, are much better at providing a target value for your process. Today’s packaged furnaces are an improvement over previous models but this is where automation has created a problem.

I’ve noticed over the past few years that operators ignore these furnaces unless the controls interfere with productivity. In one case, the operators didn’t like the heater’s slow response at start up, so they had it retuned to allow a higher air ratio. However, they didn’t bother to call the technician back to reduce the excess air once the unit was stable.

Enter the all-important Money Loss calculator. This ingenious line of software code compares current efficiency to ideal or target efficiency to calculate a fuel difference so it can display a “Dollars Lost” variable on the control monitor.

By having Money Loss calculators on all furnaces, you can easily pinpoint problem furnaces, units, operators, shifts or procedures. Setting unit goals would be easy as the dollars are always displayed for operators to watch. In most cases, you would give allowances for start ups, shut downs, and upsets, but then hold every operator accountable after that. The best part is that we’re talking real money and something that goes to the bottom line. It’s easy to understand and can be used to teach operators how to reduce the money lost.

Are You an Energy Saver Too?

If you’ve got an energy saving idea you’d like to share with our readers, e-mail it along with your name, job title, company and location to: ChemicalProcessing@putman.net. Submissions will be posted on www.ChemicalProcessing.com and will be referenced at the end of future Energy Saver columns.

Easily create a Money Loss calculator by establishing a furnace efficiency calculated variable and then comparing it to target furnace efficiency. Using current furnace efficiency, take your fuel rate and determine the fuel needed to run your process. From that number, calculate fuel use if at target efficiency. For example, let’s say that you’re using 100 million BTU/ hr of fuel at 72% efficiency and target efficiency is 80%. The fuel needed for the process would be 72 million BTU/hr (100 BTU/hr × 72% efficiency).

Fuel usage at target efficiency would be 90 million BTU/hr (72 million BTU /hr÷ 80% efficiency). So the fuel difference would be 10 million BTU/hr. Multiplying that amount by the cost of energy gives efficiency loss expressed in real dollars. In this case, if energy cost $8/million BTU, you would be losing $80 per hour or $700,000 per year. Operators may relate most directly if you express that loss by the shift — their report would include a $960 loss in fuel that shift (12 hours at $80/hr). So, maybe it’s worth it to get a trained person to retune that heater.

Money Loss needn’t be confined to heaters. Some Energy Management System software, used to optimize your entire system, can calculate loss between optimized energy efficiency and actual unit operations. This can include motor/turbine switching, steam balancing, furnace and water usage, condensate return and contract pricing. The software can calculate total loss and contribution of individual pieces of equipment. To run key equipment at optimum, individual calculators are very useful.

You can even extend Money Loss calculators to utility systems To track when water, nitrogen, chemicals, and air can usage exceeds optimum. By translating losses to dollars and making operators aware of costs, you’ll be surprised at how fast those losses can be reduced.

Now, I know a few of you have thought of the $1-million question: “how long will it be before the operators start ignoring the Money Loss calculator?” To sustain savings long term, you’ll need incentives. In most cases, you can use the calculators as part of performance goals, which usually are tied to bonuses or raises. Or have a contest between shifts or units with a winner picked each month to receive a prize. The money calculator is worth sustaining because it communicates on a level that everyone understands: dollars saved.

Gary Faagau is Chemical Processing's Energy Columnist. You can e-mail him atGFaagau@putman.net.